To Understand
by emmyjowrites
Summary: Olivia Barton lived her whole life as a secret. No one could know who she really was. When her identity fell into the wrong hands, she was forced into a new home and a new life. How did Olivia cope with no longer being hidden? When she discovered she was not the only one who'd been kept a secret, her life changed forever. Sometimes, having someone to talk to is all one can ask for.
1. We're moving?

**A/N Hey guys! This is my first ever fanfiction so I really hope you like it! I just wanted to say that this story is rated M for possible future chapters because I wanted to be safe. Also, I'm very bad at writing summaries so I apologize for that. Any feedback is appreciated whether it's good or bad but constructive criticism is the best! Thanks so much for reading and once again, enjoy! :)**

Olivia awoke to the sound of her father knocking on her door.

"Hey Kiddo, it's time to wake up," he said, flicking on the lights. She groaned at the bright light, pulled her comforter up over her head, and proceeded to go back to sleep. Her dad chuckled slightly at the just barely visible blonde head sticking out from the sheets.

"Come on Olivia, I have something important to talk to you about. I made breakfast," he trailed off knowing that the mention of food would have her out of bed within the next ten minutes.

"I'll be waiting in the kitchen for you," he told her as he left the room. Soon after he left, Olivia removed the blankets from her body and pulled herself out of bed. She headed downstairs still clad in her pajamas as it was Sunday and the only plans she had involved her couch and the English homework that was still sitting on her desk.

As she reached the kitchen, the smell of waffles and maple syrup reached her nose. She smiled in delight.

"Waffles?" She asked her father who was already sitting at the table with a cup of coffee and the newspaper in his hands.

"They're still your favorite right?" He asked.

"Absolutely," she nodded firmly.

"There's some sliced fruit and a few other things on the counter to top them off," he pointed to the bowls of toppings. At this, she stopped making her breakfast plate and stared at her father suspiciously.

"What's with the special breakfast?" She asked slowly, wondering his motive behind the extravagant display.

"What do you mean?" He asked. "Nothing's special. I just decided to make waffles, that's all."

She paused for a moment, narrowing her eyes at him.

"You never could lie to me Dad," she set down her plate and crossed her arms. "What's going on?"

There was a pause and she could almost see the war with himself inside his head.

"We're moving," he finally told her. For a second, she thought she heard him wrong.

"Sorry?" she asked confused.

"We're moving," he repeated and that time, she knew she heard him right.

"Moving."

"Yes."

"As in, not living here anymore."

"Correct."

She stared at him blankly, not knowing how to process what he was telling her. When she finally gained her bearings, she was not a happy camper. She started to speak, but her father cut her off as he stood from the table.

"Before you start complaining, we're staying in New York this time. You don't have to switch schools or leave your friends or anything," he explained, holding his hands out to calm her. "We just, can't stay _here_ anymore."

"Well, why not?" She asked, even more confused than she was before.

With a top secret agent for a father, Olivia wasn't ignorant to the idea of moving. She had been moved all around the country ever since she was little. She was born in Virginia in her mother's hometown and lived there until she was about three. After her mom left the picture, it was off to Iowa with her dad for the next two years. Then Alaska. Then Nebraska. Then Louisiana. And now, New York. She'd lived in New York for five years and had grown so attached to the state. The cities were amazing and the countryside so beautiful. It seemed like everywhere she turned there was something new to see or experience and it just never got old. Olivia learned to not get attached to people rather quickly. Her father was always being dragged across the country and put on new missions. It seemed rather pointless to make friends she knew she would eventually leave behind.

When they moved to New York, however, her father promised that was the last move. The Avengers were almost permanently there and when he went on missions, her Uncle Phil would stay with her until her dad returned. She had finally let herself make friends and have crushes; it allowed her to feel like a normal kid. And now, against her dad's promise, they were moving again. But this move was different. They weren't moving halfway across the country because some underground ring was planning to take over the government. She couldn't begin to think of why they would just change houses. If something was happening in New York, they could handle it just fine without moving.

"I was called into SHIELD headquarters yesterday and I was notified that we've been compromised." Olivia stared at him blankly. "Someone hacked into my files," he elaborated. "Luckily, whoever did it wasn't smart enough to cover up their tracks so we're working on finding out who they are. We're not quite sure what they know, but I'm not willing to risk anyone coming after you," he said firmly.

She let the information sink into her head. Someone knew where she lived. Someone knew her relation to Hawkeye. Someone knew she existed. She let out a heavy sigh. Being angry with her father was no longer an option, but that didn't mean she had to be excited about the new situation.

"So, I guess we're moving," she said matter of factly. "When?" she asked.

"Tomorrow," he answered.

"Tomorrow?" she asked incredulously. "We haven't even looked at apartments or houses! We don't have anywhere to move to!"

"We're moving into the tower," her father stated.

"The tower?" she asked. "As in, The Avenger's Tower?"

"The one and only," he answered. "Tony offered all of the Avengers a space to live a while back. I turned it down for obvious reasons but I've decided to take him up on his offer."

"Is that so? Well, how do you think he's going to react when you show up with me? You know, the daughter that almost no one knows exists?" She asked bluntly.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there," he told her as he walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. "Thank you for being so cool about this; I know you really don't want to move."

She hugged him back tightly. "That's okay," she whispered. "And besides, it's not that big of a deal I guess. Like you said, we're not leaving the state, I don't have to switch schools, I'll still see all my friends. Just, promise me we won't sell the house? As soon as we have the all clear, we'll move back. Right?"

"If that's what you want, then absolutely."

"That's what I want," she confirmed.

"That settles that then," he pulled away and then kissed her forehead. "Well now that that's out of the way, time to go talk to Tony."

Olivia laughed at her father as he walked away towards the front door. "You haven't even asked him yet?"

"Oh hush you. Go do your homework or something!" he yelled as he exited the house. "Love you!"

"Love you too Dad!" she called back and she heard the door click shut.


	2. Secrets Revealed

**a/n Thanks so much to everyone who's read and followed and favorited or reviewed! I was honestly expecting for this to just sit on the internet, unread, forever haha :) Well, I hope you all enjoy this chapter I have for you! I wasn't planning to post it today but I had a bad day at rehearsal and needed to end it on a good note with some writing. Enjoy!**

Olivia had tried her best the whole day to avoid thinking about the move or the possible danger she was in. She had been a secret her whole life. There were very few people in the world who knew that she was Hawkeye's daughter. Now, not only did someone hack into the secure files about her existence, but she was also going to be revealed to the Avengers. Of course, she knew she could trust them. Her dad wouldn't risk doing anything that had even the slightest chance of putting her in harm's way.

Knowing this fact, however, did not help the ever-growing anxiety about finally revealing who she was. If the information fell into the wrong hands, she would instantly become a target. Her dad's line of work was not exactly "kid friendly," but she wasn't really worried about herself. Sure, she didn't want to die but she was more concerned for her father. She knew that he would do anything he could to save her, even if that meant putting himself in danger. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if something were to happen to him because of her.

She realized, as all of these thoughts swirled around her head, she wasn't doing a very good job at not thinking about it. And as she looked up from her lunch, if her friends' expressions told her anything, she realized she wasn't doing a very good job at hiding it either.

Finally, her best friend since moving to New York, Gwen Stacy, put down her own lunch and stared at her. She folded her hands together on the table and leaned forward.

"All right, we've been trying to talk to you for the past ten minutes and it feels like you've got earmuffs on or something. What's wrong?" She asked. Olivia paused for a moment, thinking of how to respond.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm fine. I just zoned out for a minute, that's all," she answered. It's not like she could say what she was really thinking. She had a feeling that 'Oh yeah, my dad is actually a secret agent/superhero and no one knew that I exist until recently when our top secret files were hacked and now there may be some evil supervillain who's going to come after me and my dad so today I'm moving in with the rest of the Avengers to try and keep myself hidden from any possible attacks which may or may not happen at any given moment' might not go over so well.

"Come on Liv, something's up. You're usually the one who keeps the conversation going," the boy sitting across from her asked. His name was Peter Parker and she'd been introduce to him by Gwen when they'd all started high school. They became a close-knit friend group freshmen year and the rest was history.

"I'm fine Peter," she smiled softly and then hesitated as she thought about what to tell them. "It's just…I just found out that I'm moving."

"You're moving?!" Her friends exclaimed at the same time.

"You can't move! You can't leave us!" Gwen said, her blue eyes flashing.

"Don't worry guys, it's only temporary. Our house has some kind of gas leak apparently and so we're having to stay with some of my dad's co-workers until they fix it," she calmed their fears with the story that she and her dad had come up with together. They both sighed in relief and she smiled a bit at the fact that her friends cared about her so much.

"If it's only temporary, why are you so bummed out?" Peter asked.

"I don't know really. I guess part of it is that I've never met any of the people we're going to be living with. I'm sure they're wonderful people and all but I can't help but be nervous. New place, new people, it's just weird is all," she admitted with a slight shrug. "It's not that big of a deal anyway."

"Well, I'll tell you what," Gwen started with a smile. "If these people turn out to totally suck ass, you're always welcome at my place. You know that." Olivia couldn't help the large smile that grew on her face.

"You're amazing, you know that? Right Gwen?"

"Eh," she shrugged but she had a proud little smile on her face. "What can I say? I'm pretty great."

"Oh shut up," Olivia responded with a laugh.

"Now you've gone and inflated her head, Olivia. Look what you've done!" Peter laughed good-heartedly.

"Peter Parker!" Gwen exclaimed, shoving his shoulder and Olivia smiled gratefully at her friends. They always knew how to cheer her up

oOoOo

Olivia took one last look at her room, before shutting the door. As soon as she got home from school, she had hurried up to her room to finish the packing she had started the day before. She couldn't believe this was all happening so fast. One day she finds out she's moving, and the next she's moving into her new 'home' of sorts.

"You ready?" her father asked looking up from his phone.

"As I'll ever be," she responded with a nervous smile.

"Let's go then," he stood up and grabbed her bags from her, taking them to the car. Once everything was packed, they began the drive to the tower. Olivia stared out the window thinking of how much crazier life was going to get.

"Hey," her father started, reaching over and placing a comforting hand on her leg. "It's going to be okay. Everyone is really nice. I promise," he smiled.

"Don't you think it'll be kind of suspicious if anyone I know sees me walking in and out of the tower every day?" She asked uncertainly.

"We already thought of that," he explained. "If anyone asks, you're the newest intern for Stark Industries. It'll work. Trust me."

She weighed around the thought in her head as she looked out the window. It seemed like a pretty believable cover story to her. After all, she was the top of her class at a school for science. After a moment of silence she looked back to her father.

"Are they any closer to finding out who hacked the files?" She asked.

"I'm not allowed to say much," he answered honestly, "but they're looking into a few leads."

"Good," she sighed a breath of relief. "I just want this all to be over."

The rest of the drive was spent in silence as Olivia contemplated just how much her life was about to change. When they finally made it to the tower, her father pulled his car into the garage and parked. They gathered as much of their belongings as they could, and headed into the building. As they stepped into the elevator, a voice came seemingly out of the walls.

"What floor Mr. Barton?" the voice asked and Olivia jumped in surprise and looked around for the person speaking. Her father chuckled softly before looking up at the ceiling.

"To the main living room please Jarvis," he said and looked back at Olivia who was still startled.

"Tony's artificial intelligence," he explained trying to stifle his laughs. "I can't believe that scared you."

"It's not funny," she said shoving her dad's arm.

"It's pretty funny," he laughed. "You should've seen your face."

"Dad!" she exclaimed. "You're my father, you're not supposed to _laugh_ at me!"

"I'm laughing _with_ you Livvy," he smiled.

"Mm hm," she narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Oh come on, don't be like that," he opened his arms for her to hug him but instead she turned around and faced the elevator wall.

"Olivia," her dad whined like a small child. When she still didn't respond, he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug from behind. "Now is wittle wivvy upset," he said in a baby voice. "Is she pouting?"

She slapped his arm and pulled away from him. "You are such a child," she said with a laugh.

"There's that smile again," he grinned at her. The elevator dinged and the doors opened to the biggest room Olivia had ever seen.

"Woah," she gaped wide eyed at the room around her. All of a sudden a door opened and in walked Tony Stark.

"Welcome home!" he said as he walked over to them. "You must be the baby hawk," he looked at her. "I've heard so much about you. You know, after finding out you existed yesterday."

This last sentence was sent with a slight glare towards her father but she opted to ignore it.

"I've heard a lot about you too Mr. Stark," she said politely.

"Oh God, please don't call me that. Tony is fine," he told her as he held out his hand for her to shake.

"Of course, Mr. Stark," she said whilst staring at his hand and she heard her father stifle a laugh beside her.

"Touché," he pulled his hand back. "Well, I'll go fetch the others, might as well get the introductions out of the way."

He left the room through the same door he entered from and she walked forward to look around the massive space.

"This place is humongous," she ran her hand along the leather couch. "I'm so going to get lost."

"If you ever do, you can just ask Jarvis and he'll help you get back to the right place," her father advised.

"He's the A.I. right?" she looked at her father for confirmation and he nodded his head. She made her way throughout the room, looking at the beautiful pieces of art on the walls and the massive television mounted in front of the sofa.

Her father had taken a seat on the couch and was just watching his daughter familiarize herself with one part of her new home. A few moments later, the door opened again, but this time Tony was followed by Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, Sam Wilson, Pepper Potts, and

"Aunt Nat!" Olivia exclaimed running towards the Black Widow and engulfing her in a hug. "I can't believe you're here! Dad said you were in Russia working on a mission!"

The only important woman that had ever been involved in her life held her back tightly.

"Your father and I thought it might be a nice surprise to make up for you having to move," she smiled. Olivia was about to respond when she was interrupted by someone clearing his throat behind her.

"I hate to interrupt the moment," Steve started, "but Aunt Nat?" he asked very obviously confused.

"Oh yeah," Olivia turned to face the others. She offered a small smile and a wave. "Hey everybody," she said awkwardly. "It's nice to meet you all. Um, my name is Olivia." She paused and looked at her father for one last bout of reassurance. When he nodded, she looked back at everyone, "Olivia Barton."

oOoOo

Olivia had expected some kind of reaction. What she hadn't expected was for everyone to stare at her blankly and not say anything. She stood there awkwardly while everyone analyzed her. She noticed a few of them looking back and forth between her and her father. Finally, Sam broke the silence.

"Well, you do look like your father that's for sure," he commented.

"I get that quite often actually," she told him. "Everything except the eyes, unfortunately." She pointed to her own eyes which were amber unlike her father's blue.

"So, do other people know your Clint's daughter then?" Steve asked curiously.

"No," her dad answered for her. "And no one can know," he said casually but his friends caught the underlying threat. "Even with my identity being a secret, I couldn't risk her having a connection to me if it was ever revealed. Outside of this tower, that little girl is Olivia Owens and is to be referred to as such." They all nodded their understanding.

"Owens?" Bruce finally spoke up.

"It's my mother's maiden name," Olivia spoke up for her father. She knew he didn't like to talk about her mother and quite honestly, neither did she. If it hadn't been for safety precautions, she would've abandoned everything about her mother long ago. She could tell by the looks on their faces that they had questions, but none of them dared asked. She guessed they didn't feel like intruding which she was grateful for.

"So how old are you?" Tony spoke up. "Arrows over here said that you're in high school but you look like…twelve."

She just blinked at him for a moment before sarcastically responding with, "Gee, thanks. I'm almost seventeen, for your information."

"Perfect," he clasped his hands together. "You're right around my son's age. You two should get along swimmingly." At the mention of a son, she turned to her father who had a cringe on his face.

"Son?" she asked Tony who proceeded to also turn to her father.

"You didn't tell her?" He asked incredulously.

"I knew I was forgetting something," he whispered to himself. "Uh, surprise?" he offered weakly. Olivia stared at him as though he had lost his mind. So now, on top of everything else, she was going to be living with another teenager. And to make things worse, a teenage boy. Perfect. She brought her hand to her face and rubbed her temples, "Perfect," she voiced her thoughts aloud.

"Hey, he's not that bad," Tony said offended.

"Forgive me, Mr. Stark if I am not quite exuberant about the idea," she said sarcastically.

At that precise moment, the elevator dinged behind Olivia and the person in question walked into the living room.

"Hey Dad, do you mind if I—" he cut himself off when he saw the mass of people gathered in his living room. His eyes fell on one particular head of blonde hair.

"Olivia?" He asked looking at her. She turned around and almost gasped at who she saw.

"Peter," she breathed out while staring with wide eyes.


	3. Talk

**A/N Hey guys, I hope y'all enjoy this chapter! Please don't forget to review! It really helps if you have any constructive criticism!**

"Um, w-what are you doing here?" Peter asked her but he was looking at Tony, trying to decipher what was going on

"You two know each other?" Clint and Tony asked simultaneously, neither one answering Peter's question.

"We go to school together," Olivia answered at the same time as Peter.

"Wait, pause," Tony said holding up his hands. "That's Olivia?" He pointed towards her but was looking at Peter.

"Um, what's that supposed to mean?" Olivia asked now turning to Peter along with everyone else.

"Um…uh…" he kept opening and closing his mouth as he thought about what to say. Olivia couldn't help but think that he looked a bit like a fish.

"Okay, can someone explain what the hell is going on?" He finally asked. When no one made a move to answer, Olivia finally had it.

"Hawkeye's my Dad," she blurted out.

"Olivia!" Her father exclaimed.

"What?" She asked. "I'm assuming he's allowed to know what's happening. He seems pretty tied up in this mess."

"You can't just guess Olivia! What if he wasn't allowed to know?" Her father reprimanded.

"I don't get why this is a big deal; _obviously_ he's allowed to know!" She argued back. Her father went to chastise her again but thought better of it. He gave her the look that told her the argument wasn't over and would be continued later on when they weren't surrounded by people. He turned around to face Tony and Olivia rolled her eyes at her father's back.

"I did not see that coming," Peter said shocked, but then he shook his head in confusion.

"That still hardly explains anything about what's goi—oh," realization swept over his face as he turned to Olivia. "Your dad's co-workers," he stated simply and she nodded.

"What?" Her father asked her, not understanding what Peter was getting at.

"I was talking to Peter and Gwen at lunch and I mentioned that I was having to move in with some of your co-workers due to the 'gas leak' at home," she explained, using air quotes. He nodded his head when he realized the connections Peter had made.

There were still a few confused faces around the room so Olivia continued.

"To those who are still confused, my father and I are moving into the tower due to certain confidential information being leaked to currently unknown sources. Peter and I go to school together and have been friends for years, hence why we were both so shocked to see each other here. I'm presuming, but correct me if I'm wrong, that he's the son you were just talking about Mr. Stark?" She looked at him for confirmation and he nodded. "Okay, now is anyone still not following?" She asked. Everyone stayed silent and so Olivia nodded her head. "Good. Okay, good," she mumbled before looking at Peter.

"This is really weird," she couldn't help but laugh at just how bizarre the situation was.

"Agreed," he laughed along with her.

"Well, now that everyone is caught up on the situation, not to be rude, but I've got a project to get back to," Bruce informed everyone whilst walking backwards towards the door that, Olivia would discover later, led to his personal labs. After Bruce left, the others kind of dispersed to finish their own business until it was just Tony, Peter, Clint, and Olivia.

Olivia exchanged a look with her father and he nodded before heading towards the elevator again.

"I'll go get the rest of our things out of the car."

"Thank you," she responded sincerely.

Tony just stood there leaning against the back of the couch, watching. Peter cleared his throat awkwardly, but either his own father didn't catch the hint as quickly as Olivia's or he just opted to ignore it. The three of them stood there in uncomfortable silence and Olivia rocked back and forth on her feet, a nervous habit she'd had ever since she was a child. Finally, Peter looked at his dad, "Would you mind if Olivia and I talked for a moment?"

"Oh, no. Absolutely not! Don't let me stop you," he told the pair of them, but made no move to leave.

"…alone, Dad," Peter trailed off awkwardly. Tony scoffed, but pushed himself off the couch and headed towards the elevator.

"You're no fun, Pete," he commented as he stepped inside the elevator and the door closed. Both of them sighed audibly once the doors closed and they were alone. After a moment, Peter broke the silence with a laugh, "So, gas leak huh?"

Olivia gave out an airy laugh, "I love how that's what you choose to start with after that whole conversation."

"I just don't know what else to start with," he said as he moved over to the couch and sat down. Olivia took a seat next to him.

"I get what you mean. This is so fucking weird," she mused. "I mean, you're Tony Stark's son. I didn't even know he had a son."

"He does," Peter smiled. He really did love his father, even if he was a pain in the ass sometimes.

"So, Peter Stark," she tried the name out for the first time.

"Parker-Stark," he corrected. "My biological parents died in a plane crash when I was 6. When Dad adopted me, he thought I might want to have something that connected me to them, to remind me that I'm the son of Tony Stark, but I'm also the son of Richard and Mary Parker. I don't have to choose. I'm both and I always will be."

Olivia listened to his story intently. It was so peculiar to think that she had known Peter for almost three years and yet she really knew nothing about him.

"So what about you?" He asked. "Olivia Barton?"

She nodded in affirmation. "Yeah. Owens is my mother's maiden name," she explained. "I prefer Barton though. I guess we're kind of in opposite situations," she laughed even though the conversation they were having was not very humorous. "There's _a lot_ I would give to get rid of any connection I have with that women. Let's just say, for the sake of conversation, that my mother was not a good person. Nowhere close. And now, it's like, even though she's not physically a part of my life anymore, she's a part of my life every day. I hate it," Olivia admitted. She looked down at her hands and let her hair fall into her face. That was the first time she'd ever opened up to anyone about that. She hadn't even talked to her father about it besides a few words in passing.

She looked up as she felt a hand brush her hair out of her face and tuck it behind her ear.

"Well, I quite like the sound of Olivia Barton," Peter smiled softly at her. "I guess I'll just have to start using it more often."

She offered him a weak smile, "Thank you, Peter."

"Anytime, roomie," he said. "Oh goodness this is going to be so weird," he laughed and she soon joined him.

When they finally calmed down, they were each holding their stomachs in pain.

"Oh my God, if I don't wake up with a six pack tomorrow I'll be shocked," Olivia muttered and Peter shook his head at her with a smile still on his face. He thought he could get used to this new development.


End file.
